Customer Reviews

The Shaming Of The True

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4 star:		(3)
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Please support Kevin Gilbert's legacy. If you are reading this, you already know the brilliance of his music.

This CD is in print and available for $16 (KMG004) direct at:

http://www.popplusone.com/gilbert.html

The track list is:

01 Parade
02 The City Of The Sun
03 Suit Fugue (Dance Of The A&R Men)
04 Imagemaker
05 Water Under The Bridge
06 The Best Laid Plans
07 Certifiable #1 Smash
08 Staring Into Nothing
09 Fun
10 From Here To There
11 Ghetto Of Beautiful Things
12 A Long Day's Life
13 The Way Back Home
14 Johnny's Last Song

Also available at the popplusone site are two other Kevin Gilbert CDs:

Kevin Gilbert and Thud - Live At The Troubadour $15 (KMG002) LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR

Kevin Gilbert's Kaviar $25 (KMG005) The Kaviar Sessions

Also available is a comp of two Giraffe CDs (The Power Of Suggestion + The View From Here):

Gifaffe $15 (KMG001)

Even before Giraffe, Kevin was in a band called NRG (vinyl only). This is available with bonus tracks at:

http://www.kevingilbert.com/Sounds/NRG/NRG_album.html

Please visit http://www.kevingilbert.com/ for interviews, rarities, and the missing tracks from the Giraffe CD.

Gilbert's untimely demise leaves his second solo studio production as his final musical statement. This ambitious song cycle of a musician's ingestion by the record industry is Pink Floyd-like in its musical sophistication and Who-like in its visceral impact. As songwriter, singer, producer and principal instrumentalist, Gilbert has created an independently produced album of extraordinary quality - far in excess of the product churned out by a record industry whose pathological commercialism he deconstructs with his songs.

As the cast-off key contributor to Sheryl Crow's breakthrough "Tuesday Night Music Club" (not to mention his own brushes with almost-fame in Toy Matinee), Gilbert earned his cynical view. But his distaste for the industry never poisoned his love of music, and here he weds his history of prog-rock (with Giraffe) with the sly, soulful rock that he penned for Crow. Even more impressive, at the time of his death this album was a pile of tapes and handwritten notes on the expected running order; Gilbert's friends and collaborators finished off the album, showing that his musical impact had not shuffled off this mortal coil along with his body. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

It's hard talking about artists who die too young while trying to look past the myth that tends to surround them. Was Jeff Buckley as great as everyone says? Would Nick Drake's appeal be as deep & timeless if he hadn't died at 26?

Yes and yes. But that's beside the point, which is: in a just world, any list of such artists would also include the name Kevin Gilbert. The man could sing, play any instrument, engineer/produce, and (best of all) write brilliantly. He managed to be consistently serious, witty, catchy, sophisticated, accessible *and* eloquent all at once. No mean feat. Check out Thud to discover one of the greatest masterpieces of the 90s.

His final posthumous work The Shaming of the True is a rock opera, and a marvelously inventive & eclectic rock opera it is. Every story album can use a couple big rockers, nicely provided in "The Best Laid Plans" and "Certifiable #1 Smash," while the requisite slow tunes thankfully avoid being cheesy. "Fun" is a smooth lounge piece. "City of the Sun" is sinuous pop with a prog twist. The a-capella "Suit Fugue" is a nutty taste of Gentle Giant by way of Mr. Bungle. The whole thing has a great dynamic flow and there's really no filler to be found (the dated mentions of Leo DiCaprio and Tonya Harding notwithstanding).

The premise - rising star gets chewed up & spit out by some soulless record company - is marginally similar to Pink Floyd's The Wall, but that's where the resemblance ends. Kevin skewers the industry and its fun and games with a frank true-to-life eye rather than Roger Waters's self-absorbed character study. TSotT is sharp, darkly funny and infectious even though the cynicism is still there in spades. At the same time it's touching enough to make our protagonist's hope and disillusionment almost tangible. The mix of honesty and humor would have done Leonard Cohen or Warren Zevon proud.

If you don't know Kevin, go for Thud or the self-titled album from Toy Matinee first. A great discovery awaits.

Every musician/artist of any discipline should give this a try. How much do you compromise to achieve your goals? Can you resist the excess of success? Kevin is dead on target, every time. This is hair-raising, tear- inducing stuff. Nearly every track is a standout in this story of how the music business manipulates and tarnishes. Although it's not my favorite track, "Fun" bears mentioning because it is the most cynical piece of anything I've ever heard or read. I can taste the disgust the protagonist felt for the business at that point. But no matter how abused he felt, he found his way back to his love of music, and that is a beautiful thing.

In my humble opinion, this release is Kevin Gilbert's crowning achievement. Unfortunately, Gilbert died before he got the chance to finish the album. Kevin may have left us back in in 1996, but he left us at the top of his game. Props to John Cuniberti and Nick D'Virgilio for seeing this release through. You can hear plenty of influences in the music from Genesis,the Beatles,and to Elton John among others.

It's one of those rare albums that just grabs from the get go and then keeps getting better with each listen. Shaming of the True is Kevin Gilbert's masterpiece.

This CD has been steadily played since it's release and I would consider it vital to any desert island disc list I make.
No filler on this one. It gets played straight through and it gets played loudly. I was able to purchase mine from Popplusone.com for under $25 with shipping/handling.

Track listing:
1. Parade (3:44)
2. The City of the Sun (5:55)
3. Suit Fugue (Dance of the A&R Men) (2:24)
4. Imagemaker (3:38)
5. Water Under the Bridge (5:29)
6. The Best Laid Plans (5:38)
7. Certifiable #1 Smash (7:20)
8. Staring Into Nothing (5:51)
9. Fun (5:33)
10. From Here to There (2:11)
11. Ghetto of Beautiful Things (4:53)
12. A Long Day's Life (7:28)
13. The Way Back Home (4:55)
14. Johnny's Last Song (2:15)

Kevin Gilbert / vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, programming, sequencing
- Nick D'Virgilio / drums, bass, percussion, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
- Brian MacLeod / drums
- Tommy Dunbar, Rush Parrish, David Levita, Bill Bottrell / additional guitars
- Robert Ferris, Jennifer Gross, Skyler Jett, Claytoven, Sandy Sawyer, John Rubin, Tommy Dunbar Horns - The Le Petomane Ensemble / backing vocals

RIP KEVIN

Every so often, one reads or listens to a work that makes them think, "hey, I know this person... they are a kindred spirit." Ditto for "Shaming of the True."

Musically, TSotT wasn't love at first listen like Gilbert's two other seminal works - Toy Matinee & Thud; but to tell the truth, I haven't stopped giving my ear and time to this CD since I cracked it open last week. It has a personality of it's own; temperamental and cynical at times, but a "fun time all right" nonetheless.

The songs pay homage to a host influences - Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Todd Rundgren, early Genesis, Peter Gabriel, The Tubes, etc. - but rest assured, this is as original as it gets. I can't help but thinking that this would have been one of the "Eggman's" faves.

Lyrically, it's a major metaphor/simile/allusion-fest; and not something you listen to first time - or many times - around and "get it." It grows on you like an irreverent plague until it owns your @ss!

This is great poetry, folks, set to great music. It defies and spits in the face of genres. Checkout "Pop plus one" or Ebay to find a fair price on this gem.

I'd also make mention of the work of Brian MacLeod here; some of the best grooves I've ever heard, period. Somewhere, Jeff Porcaro is smiling... and very impressed.

A friend of mine suggested I listen to this well over 5 years ago. Since then this is practically the only thing I listen to. By far the greatest collection of songs that conveys a mental image of the artist and his journey through his short lived career. It was around the 3rd song on the album that I realized he was singing about me. Any one who was a working musician can identify with this. I've got to stop, buy this you'll never tire of playing it.Incredible piece of work and a miracle that it was ever finished.

This CD is in print and available for $16 direct at:

http://www.popplusone.com/gilbert.html

The track list is:
Parade
The City of the Sun
Suit Fugue (Dance of the A&R Men)
Imagemaker
Water Under The Bridge
The Best Laid Plans
Certifiable #1 Smash
Staring Into Nothing
Fun
From Here To There
Ghetto of Beautiful Things
A Long Day's Life
The Way Back Home
Johnny's Last Song

Also available at the popplusone site are two other Kevin Gilbert CDs:
Kevin Gilbert's Kaviar $25 (KMG005) The Kaviar Sessions
Kevin Gilbert and Thud Live $16 (KMG002) Live at the Troubadour

The first time i heard this album it floored me. When i realized that Kevin Gilbert was the guy from Toy Matinee it all made sense. TM was a breath of fresh air in a stale pop scene in the late 80's and should have been much larger than they were.

anyway, since this cd is way out of print and the only people who will read this are already fans, i'll just say that good for you for putting a little effort in to finding Well written, thoughtful, entertaining music that doesn't have the cookie cutter feel to it.

I saw the Nick d'virgilio (of Spock's Beard) performance of this album all the way through at ProgWest in 2002 and it was fantastic. Nick was one of Kevin's best friends and worked hard to see his music out there, and Kevin produced Beware of Darkness for SB and was set to produce The Good Don't Last before his untimely death.

anyway, enjoy.

First heard "Goodness Gracious" on some obscure FM station. Have picked up THUD & even some old stuff he did as a prog band called Giraffe. I have never cared much about lyrics but he writes such pointed and emotional stuff, which goes so well with his emotive and varied music. I guess I might compare him with other prog artists that went solo but it would be a disservice. If you like prog rock or power pop or search out talented artists that didn't get the recognition they deserve...... get all of Kevin's stuff- Toy Matinee too.